FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2012
Contact: Mike Kanarick
802.735.7962
Mayor Miro Weinberger, City Council President and Board of Finance Member Joan Shannon, and Interim CAO Paul Sisson Advocate for Passage of FY13 Budget
Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger, city council president and board of finance member Joan Shannon, and interim Chief Administrative Officer Paul Sisson today held a joint press conference at City Hall during which they discussed the FY13 budget and advocated for its passage later this evening by the full council.
“The FY13 budget before the Council for passage tonight gets the City moving again, takes significant steps towards addressing our City’s serious financial issues, and does all this without a property tax increase,” said Mayor Weinberger, speaking about his administration’s first budget. “Taking action on rebuilding the bike path from the 2011 floods, getting our parks projects moving through Penny for Parks, and adding a second building inspector to our City team are all examples of putting our City’s best foot forward.”
Examples of the substantive budgetary improvements include:
- No property tax increase
- Addressing the liquidity concerns in the water and wastewater enterprise funds
- Penny For Parks – a new focus on parks upkeep and enhancement
- Bike Path – complete the rebuilding from the 2011 floods
The details of these substantive budgetary improvements can be found in the attached Mayor’s fiscal year 2013 proposed budget memorandum, dated June 15, 2012. One additional improvement not listed in the Mayor’s memorandum is the addition of a second building inspector to the Department of Public Works (DPW). Through moderately increased fees, DPW will be able to increase its capacity in this important area.
City Council President and Board of Finance member Joan Shannon noted the improvement in this year’s budget process, stating: “I have received much positive feedback from members of the council about the improvements to this year’s budget process. The council’s changes allowed all councilors to be included at an earlier stage in the process and to have more meaningful input in creating the budget. By having eight special City Council work sessions and meeting with virtually every department head, the Council took a big step towards jointly managing the City’s finances with the Mayor as the charter requires.”
The budget (posted in full here) is presented in a different format this year and also will be tracked differently.
“For the first time, this year’s budget uses cost center accounting which shows a much clearer picture about the net costs of different municipal functions and is far easier to understand than past budgets” said interim CAO Paul Sisson. “In addition, as a result of new technology in the CAO’s office, the City will have the ability to centrally monitor and manage the implementation of the budget over the course of the next year. Remarkably, the City has not had this ability until now.”
Please see attached documents, including:
- Mayor’s FY13 budget memorandum, dated June 15, 2012
- General Fund Budget Summary document
- General Fund Tax Rate & Revenue document
- Budget Highlights document
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